Forza 4: Catch-All

Nope, not really...but frankly I don't think a single 680 will give you what you want on three screens, might want to do what I did.

Well, I get serviceable framerate in triplehead with the 460 SLI setup, and a single 680 should be around a 40% improvement. Depending on how things are looking around January when I have all of that put together I may consider a second 680, I just don't want to get heavily invested that way if the 780 is coming out in the spring.

Woohoo! Their webshop still says stuff is out of stock and orders will ship at the end of September but I just got a tracking number. It's not live yet but hopefully they didn't just print a label. Not to jinx it but I just lucked out recently with the Raspberry Pi in the same way. Maybe it's karma for having to deal with shipping damage and returns on my new TV and sub.

I'm stupidly excited about cruising around in Forza Horizon with the wheel and seat setup with the new H-shifter. I just wish I was able to get that interfaceone adapter board so I could use the TH8RS shifter with my wheel on the 360. Thanks to Fanatec's disinterest in getting the Clubsport shifter out I've had to settle on the CSR shifter.

[Edit] Holy crap! Thanks, UPS!

Scheduled For Early Delivery On:
Monday, 09/24/2012, By End of Day
Originally Scheduled For Delivery On:
Wednesday, 09/26/2012, By End of Day
Last Location:
Commerce City, CO, United States, Monday, 09/24/2012

Good deal! CSR-E right? Just remember you will need to do the firmware thing and last time I did it, it is a kinda unintuitive process.

Yup, CSR-E and shifters. Got the updater all ready to go. Sure hope this is a good upgrade over the CSR.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Yup, CSR-E and shifters. Got the updater all ready to go. Sure hope this is a good upgrade over the CSR.

It is a much more refined piece of equipment, I think you will appreciate that.

EDIT, and on Forza, 270 is the setting to use, even if you are a sim snob like me. The model was written that way and 900 is crap in Forza.

Toys are here but I'm still stuck on a conference call. I'm going see if I can get the firmware updated now.

[Edit] Okay, that's done. STILL STUCK ON THE PHONE.

Okay, I haven't had a whole lot of time to play with it, thanks to a big fear-inducing user error. Word to the wise, don't flash the base CSR firmware to it. It'll let you, and it'll seem to work, but as you'd expect things behave... strangely. After finally realizing what I had done and flashing the correct firmware I'm very happy with the wheel. The feel at center is much better than the CSR and the FFB effects are much more defined. It's still the same "cheap" rim, but I vastly prefer this on as it's a matte finish instead of the smooth gloss of the CSR. It gives it a much better look and feel.

I have to say I'm really not impressed with the H-shifter though. Admittedly part of the issue is slop in the mount on my rSeat Evo3. I'll have to use it some more but I'm honestly not sure that I'll continue to use it. I really wish I could use the TH8RS with Forza as it seems a much better shifter from what I've seen. Come on, bring out the Clubsport Shifter!

For some reason I thought you had gotten the club sport shifter

Nope, I was waiting for it which is the reason I didn't get the CSR shifter back when I got the CSR wheel last year. I should've just kept waiting for the CSS. Man, I watched a video today about the CST H-shifter. That thing looks like it's going to be amazing (and expensive).

The wife is in L.A. today so I've got parental duties (really, the kids want dinner prepared?) so I probably won't be able to give the CSR-E much love tonight.

[Edit] Okay, the shifter is growing on me. I tweaked the mount a bit which helped. I'll have to see if I can't fabricate something to stiffen it up.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Nope, I was waiting for it which is the reason I didn't get the CSR shifter back when I got the CSR wheel last year. I should've just kept waiting for the CSS. Man, I watched a video today about the CST H-shifter. That thing looks like it's going to be amazing (and expensive).

The wife is in L.A. today so I've got parental duties (really, the kids want dinner prepared?) so I probably won't be able to give the CSR-E much love tonight.

[Edit] Okay, the shifter is growing on me. I tweaked the mount a bit which helped. I'll have to see if I can't fabricate something to stiffen it up.

Yeah, the shifter is ok if you get a stable platform. Personally, I don't use a shifter for Forza...I have a Lightning SST for the plethora of PC sims. It's fantastic!

I f*ckING LOVE THIS WHEEL!!!!!!11

LiquidMantis wrote:

I f*ckING LOVE THIS WHEEL!!!!!!11

Yeah, it really is a whole new level, one you used to only reach with 2-3 grand invested in the wheel itself. Have you tried iRacing yet? The latest drivers/firmware made a big difference. Forza is pretty much as good as it will get as well.

No, not with the new wheel. I've played a bit of iR with the CSR but based on what I've read about iR over F4, and my experiences between the two using just the CSR, I imagine I'll have to change my chonies after trying it with the CSR-E.

Here's a little about me since I'm one of our car club rookies. I've always been a driver, but haven't ever really "virtualized" that from not putting a lot of time in. I don't get the visceral experience to give me the seat of the pants control to really drive well. In general I don't get the feel of speed and the car feedback to really know what's happening. In F4, I've been driving with all assists off, manual w/clutch, sim steering, and the only crutch I've left enabled is rewind. I mostly only rely on that when the AI pulls some asshat maneuver or when I'm learning a new car and/or a new track since you don't have the opportunity to just tour it.

Admittedly even with the CSR I've been a T1 basher. Well, between the studying I've been doing (Skip Barber's Going Faster and the ilk) and the CSR-E I'm now able to line up during T1, even when the AI pulls bullsh*t maneuvers like chaotic swerving or divebombing, and pass clean. In the resulting laps I can pressure the AI enough that I can out-turn it or pressure it so that it pushes too hard and goes off track. The FFB with the CSR-E is so much more refined that I really have a good feel of the car and just how far into the limits I'm pushing it. The CSR had top-dead-center FFB slop that made it really hard to push hard into straights, whereas the CSR-E really lets me feel the grip and hold a straight center. The result is that I'm blowing away the AI, really feeling like I'm racing as I'm pushing the top couple of drivers through the laps to earn my podium spot, and getting zero damage runs. Combined with the fun of slapping the H-Shifter around it's an awesome driving placebo.

Allow me to interrupt this CSR-E discussion to mention that I just I picked up the Speed Wheel on a whim. I'm not sure why, beside remembering good things said about it here by Aaron D. All I really needed was photo paper too. I hope the lack of shoulder buttons won't be a showstopper in Forza Horizon.

Alright, you may resume discussing German-crafted wheel mounts, load cell pedals, H-shiftI AM THE 99%!!

Well the Speed Wheel surprisingly does the trick. I'm not the first to say it here, being almost a year late to the party, but count me as another who's satisfied with this middle-ground casual solution. I had the original Xbox racing wheel for the first Forza, and while that was a pretty awesome feeling, I don't have the money, space, or dedication for that now (those three qualities were sucked up by Rock Band, the sizeable planetoid of plastic in the corner of the living room).

It took about 10-15 minutes to get used to the wheel, made much easier once I switched the layout to one of the presets where the face buttons ape the regular controller (with the d-pad for free look—perfect). Holding long, steady turns is much easier, but more precise movements like threading needles through traffic are tougher. The wheel does a good job of finding a neutral position for the straights while I rest my elbows on my knees. It feels much more natural and responsive than accelerometer steering in iOS games. But anyone who says they're posting faster lap times than with the controller is a liar.

The reviews online for the wheel also range from barely useful to totally contradictory. If you, dear reader, are still on the fence about it, let me straighten out some of those mis-reported facts for you:

• You don't have to shift with the d-pad, there are five layout options.
• You do have access to the clutch in some layouts.
• The lights don't do nothing—they don't do much, but you could still consider them "informative" rather than pointless. The right light glows brighter as you approach the redline; the left light flashes when you change gear or use the handbrake, and glows according to how much you're applying the brake; and both lights glow simultaneously when you're dirtying your lap. Not exactly an F1 steering wheel, but then not nothing neither.
• The wheel recognizes movement in all three dimensions, in the games that support that—not FM4 of course. What games are those? A mystery.

I wish I could comment on the vibration, but now I don't remember it. I guess that's a negative comment? I'll pay more attention next time.

Edit: The vibration is there, with all the same cues and nuance it provides through the controller. I only didn't remember it since its one of those nearly subconscious outputs like tire squeal that you just act on without really registering it.

Gravey wrote:

The reviews online for the wheel also range from barely useful to totally contradictory. If you, dear reader, are still on the fence about it, let me straighten out some of those mis-reported facts for you...

Thank you. I really really really want one of those fancy German set ups, but having just gone back to school, that wont be in the cards for some time. I have been thinking of getting one of these for a while, and this just might push me to get it.

On another front, I added the car I used for the Modern Roadsters Rivals event this month to the club garage for anyone who wants to try their hand at that event. Rotary NB Miata's are cool! and I think I gave it a fun paint job.
IMAGE(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8041/8030829657_8206e5ed17_z.jpg)
IMAGE(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/8030828881_416f32b796_z.jpg)

ElectricPi wrote:
Gravey wrote:

The reviews online for the wheel also range from barely useful to totally contradictory. If you, dear reader, are still on the fence about it, let me straighten out some of those mis-reported facts for you...

Thank you. I really really really want one of those fancy German set ups, but having just gone back to school, that wont be in the cards for some time. I have been thinking of getting one of these for a while, and this just might push me to get it.

It's a compromise—you get more travel in turning the wheel and pressing the triggers than with the controller, but on the other hand it also just floats in the air. And of course, no pedals. So while it's a different experience, it certainly doesn't feel like driving. But then there's no setup and I can chuck it in my basket of controllers.

If you want to feel like you're driving, and space isn't an issue, I'd suggest tracking down the old Xbox 360 racing wheel instead. I think those can be had for less than $100 used. But if you just want to hold a wheel and move your arms around, the Speed Wheel works a treat.

There was someone in the trading thread offering one up for a hundred bucks a month or so ago, might still be available. I have one, and really like it although I'm certain that the fancy german wheels are vastly superior, it's definitely good enough.

Yeah, I've got an MS wheel I'd like to get rid of. I'd do $75 shipped CONUS.

Forgive my crossposting from the Silly Purchases thread, but it's pretty heavily Forza related.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Here's a collection of recent silly purchases. Now I'm ready for Forza Horizon. In the corner is one of the two Epik Empire subwoofers I mentioned earlier in the thread.

IMAGE(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Liquidmantis/seat.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Liquidmantis/seatTv.jpg)

That is friggin' awesome.

Hi folks!

New to the forum, but been following the podcast for three years i guess.. maby i should entered earlier.. ;-p

I race Forza4.. mostly with my friend Braathen. We are two old norwegian men... who like clean racing and fair competition. Guess we can find some here?....

We race after the kids are in bed at night. And we live in Norway.. most of you guys and girls are probebly in US or something?

But please send us friendrequest, we need more people to race. Most part we race F class to B class.. Cause its less collisions and people can handle the speed and cars.
We both race with fanatec wheelz and enjoy the hell out of this franchise!

my gemertag is CB espresso and the old man is called Braathen ...

We speak better english than Petter Solberg, i guess you understand us ;-p

espresso

PSA: Horizon demo is out.

In case anyone has missed it, here's the Horizon Catch-All.

Forizon may be coming, but I just thought I would remind people Forza 4 is here now. I just added a couple of cars to the club garage tuned for this months Rivals:

My Cheviac:
IMAGE(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8330/8114159216_9abf1ee248_z.jpg)
and the company car:
IMAGE(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8186/8114159322_ddf9d8a048_z.jpg)

ElectricPi wrote:

Forizon may be coming, but I just thought I would remind people Forza 4 is here now.

I'm still playing a few times a week. Part of that is getting my ducks in order, and by ducks I mean vinyl groups for import and sale, but still racing, racing, racing, knocking off world championship events in the long game of hitting an affinity level 50.

As much as I've always preferred roads to tracks, since I've started watching track racing this year (F1, Grand-Am, and ALMS), it's really grown on me in FM4. I never had any connection to it before, but watching something like a Continental Tire Sports Car race at Laguna Seca with ST and GS class cars (i.e. C and A class) was liking watching Forza come to life. (And the Petit Le Mans broadcast used FM4 footage to illustrate T1 of Road Atlanta.) Now it all makes sense, and I no longer drive like Grosjean in a bulldozer—now I'm trying to get clean laps, avoid contact, wait for the right opportunities to pass, and perfect every corner.

I guess that's how the game is supposed to be played. And now here comes Forizon to undo that style that, after 18 years of racing games, has finally clicked with me.

It's kind of a bummer, since DLC has wrapped, that for FM4's association with ALMS, the DeltaWing never made it into the game. Vipers and Corvettes are one thing (to some people, I assume), but that DeltaWing is pretty incredible. Unfortunate that FM4 either didn't seize or have the chance to let us live out our fantasies driving it.

Just uploaded to the club garage a couple of cars built for the monthly challenges this month.

My Swedish autocrosser:
IMAGE(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8049/8150693338_2830948ea1_z.jpg)
and my mixed up German Skyline:
IMAGE(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8184/8150693234_9e87ae2bc2_z.jpg)

Just enabled in Forizon thread... Can someone club me up please?

m0nk3yboy on live too.

m0nk3yboy wrote:

Just enabled in Forizon thread... Can someone club me up please?

m0nk3yboy on live too. :)

Sure, I'll get to it today if ThinJ doesn't first.